Patents 23 Highlights China received 1.38 million patent applications, double the number received by the United States of America (U.S.) Patent applications filed worldwide reached 3.17 million in 2017 The National Intellectual Property Administration of the People’s Republic of China received 1.38 million Applicants around the world filed almost 3.17 million patent applications in 2017, which is more than double Patents patent applications in 2017 – a record number (see the number received by the United States Patent and figure 1.1). Applications grew by an estimated 5.8% on Trademark Office (USPTO), which totaled 606,956. The 2016. It is important to note that the intellectual property Japan Patent Office was ranked third, with 318,479 (IP) office of China revised its method of compiling applications. It was followed by the Korean Intellectual patent applications statistics in 2017. Prior to 2017, it Property Office with 204,775 applications and the included all applications received; however, starting European Patent Office (EPO) with 166,585. Together, in 2017, China’s application count data include only these top five offices accounted for 84.5% of the those applications for which the office has received the world total in 2017, which is much higher than their necessary application fees. At the same time, applying combined 2007 share (75.2%). China’s share of the the new counting method retroactively, the IP office world total increased considerably between 2007 and of China was able to report a growth rate of 14.2% in 2017, while that of the remaining four offices declined the number of patent applications filed in 2017 (see over the same period. the data description section). This 14.2% growth rate for China was then used to calculate the estimated The list of top 10 offices in 2017 is identical to the 2016 worldwide growth rate of 5.8%. list. The ranking of top offices is relatively stable – any change in ranking has been gradual over the past 15 The long-term trend shows that patent applications years, with the exception of the rapid rise of China. worldwide have grown every year since 2003, with Figure 1.2 shows patent applications received by the the exception of 2009 when they decreased by 3.8% top 10 offices, broken down by resident and non- due to the financial crisis. resident filings. The IP offices of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea received the bulk of their applica- Patent applications tions from resident applicants. In contrast, Australia, worldwide grew by 5.8% Canada, India and the U.S. reported a high share of 1.1. Patent applications worldwide, 2001–2017 non-resident filings. Looking beyond the top 10 offices to the top 20 list, 3,000,000 12 offices were located in high-income, six in upper middle-income and two in lower middle-income coun- tries. In terms of geographical distribution, nine offices 2,000,000 were located in Asia, six in Europe, two each in North ons i America and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), cat li and one in Oceania. South Africa is the highest ranked pp A nd 1,000,000 African office, in 22 place. Of the top 20 offices, 11 received a greater number of 0 applications in 2017 than in 2016, while nine received 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 fewer. China (+14.2%) and Turkey (+24.9%) are the only two offices to have experienced double-digit growth. Application year Note that China’s growth rate was reported by the IP Source: Figure A1. office of China and is based on the new method of counting patent applications recently implemented by that office. China has experienced double-digit growth each year since 2010. Turkey has reported double-digit growth for the past three years and, as a result, its ranking has moved from 25th position in 2014 to 20th in 2017. The increases in number of applications filed in China and Turkey were both driven mainly by growth in resident applications. 24 HIGHLIGHTS IP office of China received 1.38 million applications 1.2. Patent applications at the top 10 offices, 2017 1,300,000 ... 400,000 300,000 Patents Applications 200,000 100,000 U.S. EPO India China Japan Canada Germany Australia Republic of Korea Russian Federation RESIDENT NON-RESIDENT Source: Figure A8. Of the nine offices among the top 20 that received of total growth in Colombia and Ecuador, while resident fewer applications in 2017 than in 2016, the Russian applications were the main driver in Romania (see fig- Federation (−11.3%); Brazil (−8.4%); China, Hong Kong ure A11). Two of the three regional offices – the African SAR (−5.6%); and Indonesia (−3.5%) reported the most Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), the African substantial declines. Applications in Brazil fell for a Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and fourth consecutive year, while the Russian Federation the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) – have seen reported a second successive year of declining numbers applications return to growth following a fall during two of applications. A decline in resident applications was successive years. Applications filed at ARIPO grew by the primary reason for the decrease in total applica- 7.2% in 2017, while OAPI reported a 2.6% increase. In tions for the Russian Federation in 2017, whereas a contrast, EAPO saw three consecutive years of declines decline in non-resident applications was the main in filings. At most offices of low- and middle-income driver for Brazil; China, Hong Kong SAR; and Indonesia. countries, the bulk of applications are filed by non- residents. As a result, overall increases or decreases in Among the top five offices, the Republic of Korea is applications received by these offices are determined the only one to report a small drop in applications in mainly by the filing behavior of non-resident applicants. 2017 (−1.9%). China (+14.2%) and the EPO (+4.5%) reported strong growth in the number of applications. The IP offices of Japan (+0.03%) and the U.S. (+0.2%) Offices located in Asia received 65% saw negligible growth. The long-term trend shows that of all applications filed worldwide the office of China has recorded year-on-year growth in 2017 for the past 21 years, while the U.S. office has enjoyed eight consecutive years of growth. The Republic of Offices located in Asia received around 2.1 million Korea’s office enjoyed solid growth in applications for applications in 2017, representing 65.1% of the world each year from 2010 to 2015, but filings declined by total (see figure 1.3). The combined total of Europe 2.4% in 2016 and by 1.9% in 2017. The patent office and North America was just below the 1 million mark. of Japan has experienced either a fall in applications Asia’s share of all applications filed worldwide increased or negligible growth since 2005, mainly reflecting a from 49.7% in 2007 to 65.1% in 2017, primarily driven persistent fall in resident applications. Since 2010, by strong growth in filings in China, which accounted the EPO has experienced fluctuation in the number of for around two-thirds of all applications filed in the applications received – growth in filings in one year is region. Offices in North America accounted for just followed by a drop in applications the next year. over one-fifth of the 2017 world total, while those in Europe accounted for just over one-tenth. The com- Among the offices of low- and middle-income countries, bined share for Africa, LAC and Oceania was 3.4%. The Ecuador (+11.5%), Romania (+10.8%) and Colombia shares of all world regions except Asia have gradually (+7.7%) recorded particularly rapid growth in 2017. declined over the past decade due to the rapid growth Growth in non-resident applications was the main driver in applications filed in China. 25 WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INDICATORS 2018 Offices located in Asia received 65.1% of all patent applications filed worldwide 1.3. Patent applications by region, 2007 and 2017 49.7% 65.1% Asia Asia 26.4% 20.3% North America North America Patents 18.1% 11.2% Europe Europe 3.1% 1.8% LAC LAC 1.9% 1.1% Oceania Oceania 0.8% 0.5% Africa Africa 2007 2017 Source: Table A6. Patent filings since 1883 From 1883 to 1963, the patent office of the U.S. was the leading office for world filings. Application numbers in Japan and the U.S. were stable until the early 1970s, when Japan began to see rapid growth – a pattern also observed for the U.S. from the 1980s onward. Among the top five offices, Japan surpassed the U.S. in 1968 and maintained the top position until 2005. Since the early 2000s, however, the number of applications filed in Japan has followed a downward trend. Both the EPO and the Republic of Korea have seen increases each year since the early 1980s, as has China since 1995. China surpassed the EPO and the Republic of Korea in 2005, Japan in 2010 and the U.S. in 2011 – and it now receives the largest number of applications worldwide. There has been a gradual upward trend in the combined share of the top five offices in the world total – from 75.2% in 2007 to 84.5% in 2017. Trend in patent applications for the top five offices, 1883–2017 1,400,000 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 Applications 400,000 200,000 1883 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2017 Application year CHINA U.S.